Rev. George
Miller
June 13, 2021
2 John 1:1-6
Today we encounter an
intimate letter; a love letter. A letter
from a man of sophistication to a certain lady and her children.
But who is this lady; who
are her kids?
No one knows the answer, so
for 2,000 years there has been speculation.
Is the lady in question a
real flesh and blood woman, a matriarch who has a family to care for?
Is the lady in question actually
a term of endearment for a non-human entity?
Such as how we call boats and
cars “she” and we think all dogs are “he.”
If this is the case, the
lady in question may be the church the author is writing to, and the children
are its members.
Or is the lady in question a
real flesh and blood woman who also happens to be the head of a church, and that
“children” can refer to her actual kids, her staff, and her membership?
Could the answer be “yes” to
all 3 at the same time?
It’s possible, as many of
the early churches took place in the homes of wealthy women, some who were widows.
We don’t know the answer,
but what we do know is that here we have a love letter, a faith-based love
letter.
“The elder to the elect lady
and her children, whom I love in truth… because of the truth that abides in us
and will be with us forever.”
Wow.
How romantic.
To the lady I love in truth.
It sounds like a letter
written in WW2 from a soldier to his beloved back home as she rations her
groceries and draws an imaginary hosiery line up the back of her calf.
It sounds like a letter Martin
could have written Coretta while in Birmingham.
To think that before e-mails
and text messages and smiley face emojis that people used to write this way.
So eloquent. So powerful.
So full of poetic love.
“To the elect lady and her
children, whom I love in truth.”
It feels as if no more words
are needed to be said. That we can just
bask here in the beauty of the message.
Lady. Love.
Truth.
What makes this even more
beautiful is understanding what the author means when he says “truth.”
He is not referring to
fact. He is not referring to yes or
no. He is not referring to 1 plus 1 equal
2.
When the author refers to truth,
he is referring to one reality- Jesus Christ.
For the composer of today’s love
letter, Jesus is the truth.
For the composer of today’s
love letter, truth is the Christian force that empowers us to love.
So, when he says he loves
this lady in truth, when he says he loves her and her children because truth
abides in them, it becomes even more powerful.
This is not love tied solely
to circumstance.
This is not love solely tied
to lust.
This is not love that is
shackled to forced conditions or false expectations.
This is love that is rooted
in Jesus.
This is love watered by Christ.
This is love tied to the
nutrients of loving God and loving neighbor.
This is a love that’s meant
to be lush, to be green, and to produce much, much fruit.
“To the elect lady and her
children.”
Imagine if you personally
received this letter. Imagine if you
were to hold it in your hand. How would
you feel?
What would you think? How would you behave?
If Jesus is your truth and
the truth abides in you, how does that shape the way you act?
How does that shape the
words you say?
How does that shape the
decisions you make?
Here we get to ask, “What
does a Christian look like? What are the fruits a Christian bares?”
The author is overjoyed that
there are those who walk and act in such a way that folk can tell they are a
Christian.
He gives thanks that this household
is making decisions and doing things that show how much they care for one
another.
He gives thanks that people
are not just talking about it, but they are walking in it.
They’re not just saying it;
they are showing it.
Because it’s one thing to
say “I love you.” It’s a whole other
thing to show that I love you.
Today’s reading is short and
sweet because what it has to say, it says so well-
That if we believe in
Christ, if we have truly let him in, then we will act, and we will live, and we
will love in such a way that it is seen.
We love, and we love from
the Christ that is within,
-the Christ who walked with
us,
-the Christ who ate with the
unpopular kids at school,
-the Christ who welcomed,
-the Christ who created
space for those who were deemed not good enough.
It is the Spirit that has
brought us together. It is in God that
our hope comes. It is Christ that we are
united.
We are all Ladies and Gentleman;
we are all Children of the Lord.
We all have the ability to
walk with the Truth inside us, in such a way that all the world can see, and
the world can say “They, they are what a Christian looks like.”
For that let us say “Amen.”
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